Kalamata planespotters on trial
KALAMATA – A group of British and Dutch planespotters were acting suspiciously when military authorities ordered their arrest, a key prosecution witness said yesterday at their trial on espionage-related charges. The 12 British and two Dutch aviation enthusiasts were arrested last year and spent five weeks in prison after they were allegedly caught taking photos during an air show at a military base in this southern port city, about 240 kilometers (150 miles) southwest of Athens. The group deny violating any ban on photography at military installations and insist they were only engaging in an innocent hobby. The case strained relations between EU-members Britain and Greece. Originally facing felony charges carrying a maximum of 20 years’ imprisonment, these were reduced to a misdemeanor carrying a maximum jail sentence of five years. The group was arrested on November 8 and released December 14 after posting bail of $12,800 each. Prosecution witness Capt. Nektarios Samaras, security chief at the Kalamata air base and the man who ordered their arrest, admitted in court that no incriminating photographs were found, but said their actions had endangered Greece’s national security. «We found no photographs taken inside a base, nor of active combat aircraft,» Samaras said during his five-hour testimony. He described their actions, however, as «systematic monitoring, which, if it falls into the hands of the enemy, is dangerous for our national security.» British defendant Steven Rush, 39, a greenskeeper from Caterham, said, «They’ve admitted that we didn’t take any photographs.» The court recessed for a second time after hearing testimony from another air force officer and a defense witness. With no defendants having taken the stand so far, lawyers said the trial looked likely to continue today. Lawyers for the group will argue that the information they were accused of gathering – mostly notes about the types of planes they saw – is freely available in books and on the Internet. They will call expert witnesses from the aviation and legal worlds to back up their case. Samaras admitted that some of the confiscated notebooks did not contain incriminating information and that many of the details in the others can be found in magazines catering to aviation enthusiasts. «I didn’t even know this hobby existed,» Samaras said, adding that it drew his attention that the group was possibly planning to visit Turkey. «Making such data public is illegal.» Greek authorities say the group was warned three times before their arrest that their activities were regarded as suspicious. The group denies ignoring warnings.
